The most recent version of Mathematica, Mathematica 4.1, is now
available for purchase. This enhanced version extends the
technologies and advances pioneered by Wolfram Research, Inc. in Mathematica
4. Enhanced solvers, functions and an improved pattern matcher and compiler
allow scientists and researchers to solve more complex problems more quickly.
MathML and HTML integration helps academics and technical professionals share
their work over the internet, while J/Link allows thedesign of innovative applications, combining the strengths of Mathematica
and Java. The Japanese edition of Mathematica 4.1 is available
for Macintosh and Windows.

arXiv.org, the e-print server hosted by Los Alamos National Laboratory, now accepts
Mathematica notebook submissions. Authors can submit notebooks as supplemental materials or as an entire article.

arXiv.org is an electronic archive and distribution server for research papers.
Physics and related disciplines, mathematics, nonlinear sciences, computational linguistics, and
neuroscience are part of what the fully automated archive contains. In the
year 2000, an estimated 13 million preprints were downloaded from arXiv and its mirror sites.

Nearly two hundred leading mathematicians, scientists, and web technology experts converged on Champaign, Illinois, for
the first "MathML and Math on the Web" conference, hosted by Wolfram Research, Inc.

MathML is the standard endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for representing mathematical notation on the
web. It was a proposal from Wolfram Research to the W3C that first began the MathML
initiative. Many of the key concepts used in MathML are based on concepts originally developed in
Mathematica, which fully supports MathML.

MathML is an XML application that fills the need for an efficient means of presenting mathematical or technical expressions on the web. Previously,
such expressions had to be "frozen" in an image format such as a GIF–a static and cumbersome
method–and inserted into an HTML document. The
MathML standard makes math on the web a living, easily adaptable, and reusable entity, and it is now seen as being integral to the creation of new
e-business and online educational opportunities.

IBM, a conference cosponsor, chose this event to announce the release of techexplorer 3.0, a web browser plug-in for Netscape Navigator and Internet
Explorer for rendering MathML. A technology exchange between IBM and Wolfram Research also provides techexplorer users a unique level of
interoperability with Mathematica, uniting web-based typesetting and technical computation. Several other major browser developers, such as
Microsoft, Netscape, and the W3C, also presented conference talks and product demonstrations that showed their commitment to supporting
MathML.

More information about the MathML conference, including presentation abstracts and an update on the availability of conference
proceedings, is at www.mathmlconference.org.

MathematicaFashion Comes to JapanSeptember 29, 2000

Eri Matsui, a newcomer to fashion design in Japan, used a unique approach in
creating her Fall 2000 designs.

The one-time Chicago resident was inspired
by Mathematica images created by Wolfram Research's Michael Trott. Trott
was not aware of Ms. Matsui's use of Mathematica in her designs until
contacted by Japanese Information Processing Service, or JIPS, a Mathematica reseller in Japan. He then gladly supplied
new images especially for Matsui's use–images of knot theory and Escher
patterns.

Wolfram Research's Alan Skillman and staff attended a premiere showing of the Mathematica-inspired designs. After the
show, a JIPS representative gave a demonstration of how Matsui used
Mathematica in fashion design.

Matsui's clients include Hikaru Nishida, a well-known Japanese singer. The
singer gave a live performance shown on major Japanese television stations
wearing one of Matsui's Mathematica creations.

The new designer's collection has attracted much attention and requests for
information. Interviews with Matsui were published in many Japanese
publications. Matsui's use of Mathematica has established her as an
exciting new talent in her field.

Every year Wolfram Research participates in educational and
technological events for high school students. As cosponsor of this year's
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and Mathcamp 2000, Wolfram
Research helped to send students from the international, national and local
level to these events. Eight finalists from all over the U.S. and participants
from 70 countries attended IMO.

To be selected for the U.S. Math Olympics team, students must
complete a sequence of three exams. The eight top-scorers out of a total of
350,000 are invited to the Olympiad Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Activities associated with the awards ceremony allow the U.S. team to meet some
of the nation's best scientists and mathematicians.

After the awards, the U.S. team and 16 other finalists
participate in an intensive month-long Mathematical Olympiad Summer
Program (MOSP). The IMO competition follows the MOSP. Next year, Wolfram
Research will be a major sponsor of the IMO, to be held in Seoul, Korea.

To be selected for the five-week Mathcamp 2000 program, students completed a challenging 10-problem test. The program's goal is to give students an opportunity to be creative in their thinking about advanced mathematical concepts. Participants also had a chance to make new friends and study with the great mathematicians of today.

For more information on the International Mathematical Olympiad,
see imo.math.ca.

Mathematica and the Science of Secrecy

"I have no doubt that I am not a genius," says Sarah Flannery, who considers herself to be a fairly regular girl with a wide range of hobbies and interests. Yet, in January of 1999, Sarah was named the Irish Young Scientist of the Year for her work in devising a highly innovative, fast, and secure new algorithm for data encryption of internet and other electronic communications. Sarah was asked to write about her experiences. The resulting book,
In Code: A Mathematical Journey, was published in April 2000.

Sarah's project, entitled "Cryptography–A New Algorithm versus the RSA," was widely praised for its brilliant applications of number theory and its demonstration of a strong grasp of the fundamentals of cryptography. Along the way, however, she also discovered how "wonderfully powerful"
Mathematica is. It was "great fun learning the Mathematica commands to [encipher and decipher]...just seeing it work was a real kick," she wrote.

Sarah set herself to the task of learning basic matrix theory in order to construct her new algorithm, writing programs to generate examples of unfamiliar concepts, and consulting her father and numerous journals for additional information. As her mathematics knowledge and programming skills increased, she was determined to write cleaner, more sophisticated code after admiring the work of others that demonstrated the "wonderful flexibility of the
Mathematica language."

Using Mathematica, Sarah implemented both the RSA and the CP algorithms and performed comparative run-time analyses on them. Her efforts were rewarded when she was able to demonstrate successfully that the CP algorithm was 20 to 30 times faster than the RSA and to knowledgeably defend an attack on it as well.

An in-depth mathematical description and comparison of the RSA and CP algorithms, including the Mathematica code, is available at
www.cayley-purser.ie. Sarah's story, In Code: A Mathematical
Journey, is currently for sale throughout the UK, and can be ordered online through the
Amazon.co.uk bookstore.

Mathematica Site Administrator Web Site Resource

Wolfram Research, makers of Mathematica, has announced the new Site
Administrator web site (site.wolfram.com),
an online resource to help Mathematica Site Administrators make
effective use of their Mathematica license program. The site includes distribution
information,
installation instructions for all Mathematica platforms and configurations, links to information about Mathematica products and
services, the answers to Frequently Asked Questions, as well as additional Mathematica
resources and contact information.

"6 Integers": Making Music with Mathematica

On January 25, 2000, concert goers at the University of
Cincinnati (UC) College Conservatory of Music heard the world premiere of
"6 Integers," a Mathematica-generated musical composition
by Carl McTague, a freshman at UC. Computed with Mathematica and
rendered using a synthesizer playing piano and marimbas, "6
Integers" premiered to warm applause and positive responses.

The piece "6 Integers," as created by McTague, is an
expression in Mathematica, just as "x2+1+p(x)"
is an expression. Over the
course of the composition, a single, coherent process explores six
integers by means of 5,292 notes and four independent channels of audio.
It is the first full piece generated by the Hierarchical Functional
Inheritance Model (HFIM).

The HFIM is the basis of the
"very promising mathematically-driven approach to composition"
that McTague has been working on for several years now, says Mara
Helmuth, director of the UC Center for Computer Music studio.

"Eventually, I realized
that the digital computer could be of immense use in my work," he
said. McTague, who has been using Mathematica for three years now,
says he chose to do his musical work in Mathematica because "I
think in mathematical terms and Mathematica lets me implement my
ideas in mathematical terms."

In
the case of "6 Integers," Mathematica evaluated the
composition's "expression" to generate a tremendous hierarchical
structure, which it then symbolically "flattened" to produce a
list of explicit instructions with each command representing a note. A Perl
script then translated these instructions into a binary format understood
by synthesizers.

Says Helmuth, "One of the wonderful
things about algorithmic composition is that it can allow people to
experience mathematical and scientific ideas in the realm of the arts and
senses, increasing modes of understanding for the non-scientist."

Mathematica in Economics and Finance

Increasingly, Mathematica is being used in the fields of economics
and finance. The updated web site at www.wolfram.com/solutions/finance/
now includes information about software developed by Vanderbilt University Professors Philip Crooke, Luke Froeb, and Steven Tschantz and
Justice Department Research Director Gregory Werden. This software aids
antitrust enforcement agencies to use Mathematica to simulate the
effects of horizontal mergers.

What Is MathRing?

MathRing (www.e-notebooks.com/rings/mathring/)
is a network of Mathematica-related web sites allowing users to share
information, tips, notebooks, and more. Commercial sites and academic sites are welcome. An expansive archive of Mathematica-related
information, MathRing adds to the list of Mathematica resources. Anyone
who has created a Mathematica-related web page that they would like
to share with other Mathematica users can join MathRing by filling
out the MathRing submission form at www.e-notebooks.com/rings/mathring/subscribe.html.